Car Rental in Tivat
Overview
Tivat Airport is where most Montenegro coast trips begin. The runway sits right on the Bay of Kotor — you descend between mountains with water on both sides, which is either thrilling or terrifying depending on your disposition. The airport itself is one building, one baggage belt, and a row of rental desks. Nothing complicated.
We have picked up cars at Tivat four times now, and the experience is consistently smooth. The terminal is small enough that you can see the rental counters from the arrivals exit. Sixt, Europcar, and Enterprise have permanent desks. Local operators like Meridian and Avant Car operate through the parking lot — they meet you with paperwork and walk you to the car. The whole process, from wheels down to wheels turning, takes about 30 minutes including the baggage wait.
Tivat itself is a small town that has been rapidly gentrified by the Porto Montenegro marina development — a superyacht harbor that has brought boutique hotels, overpriced restaurants, and a general sheen of Mediterranean glamour to what was once a quiet naval base. You can explore the marina area in an afternoon. The reason you are renting a car is everything around Tivat: Kotor is 10 km east, Budva is 20 km south, the Lustica peninsula stretches west, and Dubrovnik is 45 km across the Croatian border.
Pricing at Tivat is middle-of-the-road for Montenegro. It is cheaper than renting in Kotor or Budva (where the local market is limited) but slightly pricier than Podgorica Airport (which serves the business market). Economy cars start from 14 EUR/day in the low season. Peak summer rates hit 28-48 EUR — demand is high because virtually every tourist flying into southern Montenegro comes through this airport. Book at least two weeks ahead for July and August, especially if you want an automatic.
Driving tips
Leaving Tivat Airport, you turn right for Kotor and the bay, or left for Herceg Novi and the Croatian border. Both directions are scenic. Both are also slow — the road around the Bay of Kotor is a two-lane affair that follows the shoreline through a string of villages. Every village has a 40 km/h zone, a church, a few parked cars narrowing the road, and usually someone double-parked outside a bakery. Budget 30-40 minutes for the 10 km drive to Kotor old town, not the 12 minutes that Google Maps suggests in zero traffic.
The road from Tivat to Herceg Novi and onward to Croatia runs along the northern shore of the bay. You will pass through Perast — a one-street baroque village with the two island churches that appear on every Montenegro postcard. The road through Perast is single-lane in places with zero tolerance for speeding or impatience. Tour buses navigate it daily, which tells you something about the width.
If you are heading to Budva, there is a shortcut via the Vrmac tunnel that avoids going around the inner bay. The tunnel is 2 km long, free, and saves about 20 minutes. On the other side, you emerge above the open coast with a steep descent to Budva. The tunnel road is well-maintained but curvy on both approaches.
The main driving caution around Tivat is the airport road itself. Flights arrive in clusters — mostly from Belgrade, Moscow, and London — and when a flight lands, 200 passengers all try to leave the airport in rental cars at the same time on a single-lane exit road. If you are picking up a car after a midday flight arrival, expect a brief traffic jam in the airport parking area. It clears within 15 minutes.
Parking
Tivat has the easiest parking situation of any Montenegrin coastal town. The airport has a free short-term lot for pickups and drop-offs, and long-term parking runs about 3 EUR/day. City center street parking is metered at 0.50-1.00 EUR per hour but rarely full outside July-August.
The Porto Montenegro area has a paid garage (2-4 EUR/hour) and several surface lots. If you are just visiting the marina for dinner, parking is straightforward. The surrounding residential streets are mostly unrestricted.
The only time parking in Tivat becomes a minor challenge is during major marina events (yacht shows, summer festivals), when the Porto Montenegro area fills up. On those occasions, park along the main road on the city’s east side and walk 10 minutes.
Border crossings
Tivat is the closest major town to the Croatian border, which makes it the natural starting point for Dubrovnik day trips. The drive to Debeli Brijeg — the main border crossing — takes about 30 minutes without traffic, routing through Herceg Novi along the bay’s northern shore.
The border crossing itself is a bottleneck. Montenegro is not in the EU, so every vehicle stops for passport control on both sides. In the low season, this takes 5-10 minutes. In July and August, queues of 30-90 minutes are common, especially between 10 AM and 2 PM. We have found that crossing before 8 AM or after 6 PM cuts the wait dramatically. The Karasovici crossing, a smaller checkpoint 5 km inland, sometimes has shorter lines but adds distance.
Cross-border permission for Croatia must be arranged with your rental agency at booking time. The fee is 30-50 EUR. Some agencies restrict which vehicle classes can cross — typically, their budget cars stay in Montenegro while midsize and above can go to Croatia. Clarify this before you commit.
